Battery stared after the duo as they disappeared into the fog, arm in arm. She smiled slightly, glad to see that even in Brockton Bay of all places those relationships still found a way to flourish. It was nice to know that despite the Empire's presence, they hadn't completely instilled fear into the younger generation.
It was even nicer to have a little reminder of what they were fighting for. Sometimes the constant grind of fighting back the gang's could get… tiring.
She looked back as Assault walked up to her with a sunny smile on the exposed portion of his face, "Alright, the paddy wagon's on the way. This no good evil-doer is going away for a long time."
Battery rolled her eyes as he stopped next to her, "What a relief. I'm glad we can finally get such a dangerous criminal mastermind off the streets."
He grinned at her sarcasm, before turning to look in the same direction that she had been. His smile became a bit more sincere, "They seem like good kids." He said, "It's good that they aren't afraid to be themselves in a place like this."
Battery nodded as he echoed her earlier thoughts, "It is. Though I hope they're more careful in the future. I don't want to think about what might have happened if we weren't nearby."
"Eh, I think they would have been fine." Her husband commented, "Did you see the way the blonde pulled the other girl behind her when you showed up. She's clearly got some fight in her. She might have even tried to take you down if you got too close!" He joked, nudging her.
Before she could respond, he gave her a pat on the shoulder, motioning to the flashing lights that were making their way in their direction further down the road, "Come on. Let's go give those statements. I'm starting to mold with all this moisture."
Battery rolled her eyes but smiled softly as she joined him. She was starting to think she was growing some herself.
It took less than thirty minutes to get everything taken care of with the police and the mugger loaded up for prison.
After everything was wrapped up, Assault turned to her, clapping her on the shoulder, "Welp. I'd say that's good enough for today's patrol. We beat some baddies, saved some girls, and got thoroughly drenched from fog. We should probably head back if we don't want to be late for that meeting. Hopefully before Beardmaster decides to chew us out over comms."
"You know he hates that nickname."
"Yep!" Her husband nodded, "That's why I use it. It's good to seem him show some emotion other than focused determination. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I've heard Miss M call him that once or twice when he's annoyed her without realizing."
That didn't surprise her. Hannah could have a vindictive streak if you annoyed her enough.
"Come on, Puppy! Let's get back! She watched with resignation as Assault climbed up a nearby ladder, giving her a mischievous grin, "I'll race you!"
"Assault, don't you dare!"
He ignored her completely as he leapt off the highest point, slamming into the ground and then immediately shooting out of the alley as his power redistributed the kinetic energy, sending him flying forward at incredible speed.
She stared after him with an annoyed grimace, "Damnit Assault…"
She sighed as she bent down in a runner's stance, the blue lines on her costume beginning to glow brighter. A race. How childish.
Despite her thoughts, Battery couldn't stop the small smile that came to her fac as she kicked off, racing after her husband, nor the competitive fire that lit inside her as she did so. Just because it was childish, didn't mean she was going to let him win.
He'd gloat about it all week if she did.
Their race ended in a draw when they both had to slow down thanks to heavy traffic, but Battery was confident she would have won. Confident.
She studiously didn't look at her husband and his shit-eating grin as they walked into the meeting room. Several of their colleagues were already present and gave them various greetings as they entered.
Battery sat down between Miss Militia and her husband. The camoed woman gave her a nod and a smile that crinkled her eyes above her mask, "Hello Battery. How was your patrol?"
"It went well enough. Stopped a few drug deals, a robbery, and a Merchant who was trying to mug two girls in an alley." She gave a small smile, "No cape fights so that's good. I wasn't really in the mood for it today."
Militia chuckled at that, "Who ever is?"
"True enough. Though I'm sure Stalker would have a few words to say on that subject."
The other woman groaned lightly, "Oh don't even get me started on her. I'm at my wits end with that girl and Armsmaster is not helping things at all. I swear I don't know what Piggot was thinking when she-"
Her words were interrupted as the door to the room opened once more, and the director slowly made her way in. Battery grimaced as she took Piggot in, noting her sickly completion and sweaty face. It seemed today had been particularly difficult for her.
Despite how she looked, Piggot's demeanor remained the same as always. "I'm glad to see everyone was able to be here on time." she commented dryly as she made her way to her chair, sitting down with a light huff and placing her briefcase on the table in front of her, "That means we don't have to waste any time which is good because I doubt you want to be here right now anymore than I do."
She leaned back in her chair, the object giving a shrill squeak as she did so. She cleared her throat, pulling a stack of papers from her briefcase, "Let's begin our first topic of discussion, the ABB."
Everyone perked up, giving the woman their full attention as she began speaking, "Around a week ago, Glory Girl performed a bust on a known ABB storehouse on the edge of their territory. It was a solo patrol, and one she wasn't supposed to be on besides that according to her mother, but thanks to her actions, we've acquired some extremely important information on a recent development in the gang itself.
"Apparently, the ABB has a new parahuman and Glory Girl had the pleasure of being her first victory against an enemy cape. Something the girl isn't very happy about, I assure you. The cape, a woman of unknown age, was apparently in the middle of doing some internal cleaning as Glory Girl burst in to find several ABB members bound on the floor with several more watching over them.
"According to her, this woman identified herself as Yosei. And more importantly, she claimed to be Lung's daughter and heir to the ABB."
What? Lung had a daughter? And not only that, he had a daughter that had not only already triggered, but was apparently old enough that he felt comfortable making her the heir to his entire gang!? That was… worrying.
Piggot looked around the room at the shocked faces of her employees, "She has since been seen in various parts of his territory and seems to hold a position of power akin to Oni Lee, giving at least a little credence to her claims."
"Wait," Velocity spoke up, "You said a week ago. Why are we just now learning about this?"
Here, Piggot gave a small smirk, "It seems that Miss Dallon was a bit embarrassed to have been beaten by a lone cape on a patrol she wasn't even supposed to be on in the first place. The only reason we're learning of it at all is due to her mother informing us about it."
Tha about added up to Battery's knowledge of the girl. She was glad that at least Brandish was responsible enough to know how important this could be.
Trumph sighed, "So Glory Girl was embarrassed that she got beat by a newbie and didn't tell us." He shook his head, "Do we at least know what her powers are? What she looks like, even?"
In response to his question, Piggot powered on the large projector on the table, an image already queued up to be displayed. Battery leaned forward in her chair to examine the image as it appeared. It was taken from far away, as if the photographer was afraid of being seen.
The main subject of the picture was a woman in a red and black dress. She was pointing in the direction of the building, directing the crowd of men carrying boxes around her into an open garage. Though it was hard to make out details from this distance, it was abundantly clear that the woman was a Parahuman given the mask she was wearing and her ostentatious clothing that stuck out in comparison to those around her.
"This is Yosei. And unfortunately, that's the only picture we have of her." Piggot nodded to the screen, "From what little we can gather from this picture as well as Glory Girl's testimonies, Yosei is an Asian woman aged somewhere between twenty and twenty-five. She stands around five-foot four and according to her, 'talks like she's some sort of twelfth century British noble'. Her words, not mine.
"As for her powers, Glory Girl described her as being able to create enough lingering mist to fill the entire warehouse that they were in. It was also thick enough that she didn't notice as the other ABB members fled until it dissipated. The mist seems to be a byproduct of her primary power, that being the ability to transform into a large woman with spider legs and abdomen. She could create illusions, webs, and utilize a venom that sapped Glory Girl's strength to the point that she couldn't break free when Yosei trapped her in a cocoon of webs."
"The creature she transforms into, by all accounts, seems to be a Jorogumo." Armsmaster chimed in, bringing their attention to him. His visor was glowing as he read whatever was being displayed on it, "A mythological spider creature that has been prominently displayed in various legends and texts since the Edo period of Japan. I'll forward you all the relevant ones later."
Assault snorted, "So the dad gets to turn into a dragon and the daughter gets a spider? Seems a little unfair, doesn't it?"
Piggot smiled sardonically, "It would be, yes. If it weren't for a development that happened just days before Glory Girl informed us of Yosei's existence."
The director pressed a small button on her remote and the image that had been on the projector slid over to a new one.
Battery stared at the picture with a morbid fascination. One of the man's legs was completely healthy, if a bit pale, while the other was made completely out of a dark grey stone that perfectly mimicked the flesh that should have been there instead. Even the tiny little hairs on the man's leg were stone.
"This is the leg of one of the ABB members that was present when Glory Girl broke through the wall. He was admitted to the hospital and immediately sent to the Parahuman Treatment ward. I'm sure I don't need to tell you why." Piggot said sarcastically.
"Since you're showing us this. I'm guessing petrification isn't something that these Jorogumo are able to do?" Battery asked rhetorically.
"No." Armsmaster responded in Piggot's place, "The closest thing that I was able to find reference to was long term paralysis, and nothing mentioning stone."
"Which means that Yosei either has multiple powers, or that the one that she showed wasn't as it appeared." Piggot finished. "It might be that our assumptions are wrong and she isn't related to the creature at all."
Which would make it a lot harder to figure out what her actual powers were. Lung was easy, the man was a dragon so it wasn't hard to connect his abilities. Hopefully his daughter would be the same.
"For now, Yosei will be given a rating of Changer five, Trump two, and Shaker one pending further investigation. Depending on what she shows us in the future, that rating may increase or decrease." Piggot concluded, powering off the projector and placing the remote on the table.
"If any of you encounter Yosei, do your best to make her show what she's capable of. The only thing worse than a strong enemy cape is an unknown enemy cape. Other than that, standard procedures apply."
She looked around the room, "Any questions?" Nobody spoke up, and she nodded, "Alright then. Let's get on to the next order of business, fund allocation for the next financial quarter."
Groans sounded out at her proclamation which she easily ignored, turning to switch the slide on the projector to one that was all graphs and charts. One was displayed more prominently than others, with a big red arrow pointing straight down. A title hung above the graph in big grey letters: Tinker Budget.
Battery gave a sigh that was shared by her husband as she read that. Judging by the look on Armsmaster's face, they'd be here for more than a little while.
Two hours later, she would lament being so right all the time.
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